[quote="NCKite_Ryder the gorge is not a beginner friendly spot, its more difficult then Sherman. do you research before blindly entering the water there.[/quote]

I have to disagree. The area below the sand bar is about as safe as it gets. As a beginner, I SWAM upriver to the bar when the wind died because the bar kills the current. Upriver of the sandbar is mellow too. If shit goes wrong you can drift/swim back.I think you can still kite at the Hook too if you are super beginner. It's totally contained. And that is just in Hood River at the event site.To the east there are several spots that are lagoons surrounded by land where there is no current al all. Also great places.

The gorge is not one spot, it's MILES of different spots. PM me if you want a head start on finding them.

sc-surfer wrote:[quote="NCKite_Ryder] the gorge is not a beginner friendly spot, its more difficult then Sherman. do you research before blindly entering the water there.[/quote]

I have to disagree. The area below the sand bar is about as safe as it gets. As a beginner, I SWAM upriver to the bar when the wind died because the bar kills the current. Upriver of the sandbar is mellow too. If shit goes wrong you can drift/swim back.I think you can still kite at the Hook too if you are super beginner. It's totally contained. And that is just in Hood River at the event site.To the east there are several spots that are lagoons surrounded by land where there is no current al all. Also great places.

The gorge is not one spot, it's MILES of different spots. PM me if you want a head start on finding them.

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you're correct, if you stay in the kiddy pool its safe. OB is also safe on the inside

Frappes wrote:Lessons at Sherman are great - they will take you upwind ~1 mile to a very nice launch so you have a long ways to go before needing to get picked up by the boat again. Going there without lessons is a whole 'nother story though...

I'm looking to go up to Sherman the week after 4th of July. I'm still a beginner and need a lesson before I would be comfortable there and was interested in the downwinders.

Do you have any recommendations on the different Schools at Sherman? I'm also interested in buying a 10.5 Best Kahoona, and wanted to find a school that might sell that to me and throw in a free lesson. Any suggestions?

Floras Lake along the southern Oregon coast is probably the best and safest place to learn kiteboarding on the west coast: http://www.floraslake.com/flw2.htmlThe wind is reliable in July, but it's colder than The Gorge. The Gorge can't be beat for a fun place to take a July vacation if you're a kiter, with so much other fun stuff to do in the Hood River area. Everything is green and flowers and snowcapped mountains, and the people are really friendly (except for the windsurfers at a couple spots).